We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing your visit on the website, you consent to the use of the cookies. If you want to find out more about the cookies we use, you can access our Privacy Policy.
OK

How we met Juan Melano. A recap of Startup Grind Buenos Aires

Nora Palladino 2014-02-25T15:50:42+00:00

At the begining of this year I have taken the organisation of Startup Grind's Buenos Aires chapter. I was thrilled since I'd attempted to work with Startup Grind in 2013 and could not make it. In that scene, Laís appeared with all her strenght and creativity to bring Startup Grind to life in our city.

Well, now I have more time to focus on events at NXTP Labs and spreading the voice to the grinders is one of my favourite things.

In this ocassion we brought Juan Melano, founder of Comenta.TV which was recently acquired by Wayin. As I told at the event, I'd met Juan during 2011 when he was struggling with Comenta's business model. Three years later, some faces changed and some extra gray hair, there was Juan telling the whole story.

Here is some highlights of what he said:


  • Juan talked about failures. His company failed in so many ways: at the begining they confused a social phenomenom with a business. This took them 2 years, lots of stress and a company re-building to be a success. Lessons learnt is what he got back from the experience.

  • Juan talked about saving money. Saving time in a startup is saving money. They did not spend a single penny in whatever was not necessary. They traveled a lot in the means of the startup strategy. In those trips they met the right people to sell the company. They made a lot of mistakes hiring the wrong accountant, this cost them 6 months of delayed.

  • Juan talked about investors. They jumped from accelerator to accelerator in order to survive. Investors appeared when they've found the right business model. Comenta.TV lived enough to find it.

  • Juan talked about the sacrifices you made for your company. Well, he did not have a salary for over 2 years, his partner "burnt" 1 year of his life and this cost him a lot in both personal and profesional life.


Some pics of the event:

Juan Melano 1 Juan Melano 2

 

Special thanks:

To Juan for opening up and share his entrepreneur life.

To Gonzalo for conducting a great interview. Here's his recap (in spanish).

To all attendees. Nice to have so many grinders at home.

To my husband for bringing our baby to the event.

Here is a pic of Bruno's first Startup Grind:

Capital Federal-20140224-00116

About the Author

Nora Palladino

Nora Palladino is tech marketing and public relations passionate. After some years at multinationals and call centers, she pivoted her career to the government area and then to private sector again. At the end of 2008 she was invited to join the team of Undersecretary of Investments at the City Government. There she developed the launching platform of the Technology District of the City of Buenos Aires. During her management role, the Technology District succeed to get over a hundred of companies moving to the south of the city and generating 2400 new jobs. In 2011 she was invited to join NXTP Labs as a first employee. She collaborated in the creation of the first acceleration programs, and ever since, helped startups to grow. For over four years she has worked to help women to succeed in tech áreas working with employees first and entrepreneurs, afterwards. She volunteers at Vital Voices, Women 2.0 and Ellas2.0. Her most beloved credentials are being Ale's wife and Bruno's mom.